The Painful Aftermath of Ashlyn Halperin
by politicalgirl19
Summary: Ashlyn Halperin survived the fire from the tanning bed. While recovering from the burns, not only is Frankie on her side, but she gets visions like Wendy. Unlike her, she saw in her head how she could intervene the death of others.
1. Chapter 1

Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin were tanning in their bed-shaped device's when they noticed something was wrong with the bed. The temperature was getting a little higher than Ashlyn had thought.

" _I don't think I set it this high,"_ Ashlyn thought.

"I fucked up. I set it too hot in here," she said out loud.

But Ashley didn't hear her best friend right and took off one of her earbuds and asked, "Huh?"

Suddenly, Ashley's phone began to ring from her duffle bag, and due to the tone of music blaring through the headphones in their ears, the girls couldn't hear anything. All was eerily quiet except for the air vent, which was blowing slightly harder due to the rising temperature. Ashley's cell phone continued to ring, and due to it's heavy weight, knocked over the coat rack, which followed suit with the shelf with stacks of spare CDs that tumbled onto the beds. The girls heard the commotion and Ashley attempted to leave her bed, which in turn caused one of the shelves over into the opening slot of Ashlyn's bed.

"What the hell is happening?!" Ashlyn cried out over to Ashley as she tried to get out herself but the bulbs were too hot and stung her hands. The girls tried getting out but the shelf blocked them, preventing them from escaping.

As the temperature got higher, they started screaming for help and used all their might to get out, but no success. They were too focused in pain to realize the shelf board was preventing the bed to open.

Not only were they screaming for help, but screaming in pain. Ashlyn was banging on the fan in hope of knocking it off of the bed to escape, but it stayed still.

While the temperature continues to rise in a dangerous level, Ashlyn's skin bubbled and she tried to take off her blue goggles but it started fusing into her eyes.

The employee, Yuri, was outside behind the building, talking to his wife on the phone outside when he heard the screaming. He tried to open the back door. Seeing that it was locked, he ran to the front door, but it was locked too with a sign that said, "Back in 30 mins!". He yelled, "Hey, open the door!" but to no avail and decided to call 911.

Both girls continued pounding on the beds before Ashley's bed glass shattered and Ashlyn let out a final scream before the fire ignited them and burned them. It was bad enough their skin was burned from the overheating temperature, but with the fire as an addition, worsens their pain and suffering. They screamed in agony for 45 seconds before there was silence.

A minute later, a group of firefighters broke into the smoke filled room and quickly took out their extinguishers and put out the flames.

After the flames disappeared, one of them chopped the shelf board with an axe once and dropped them on the floor.

They opened the beds, as the smoke hissed, revealing two charred bodies and one of the firefighters nearly puked at the sight. They checked Ashley's pulse, and finding that there is none, they declared her dead.

They checked on Ashlyn, too. It was nothing they had ever seen. Her body was black as a silhouette and her once glowing skin, crumbling like cookies on the bed. The blue goggles, almost black from the fire, were still stuck to her eyes. One of the fighters, named David Houston, checked her pulse. He had a shocked look on his face once he felt a weak pulse on her wrist.

"Oh my God… she's still alive!" He exclaimed. Ashlyn, awoke and barely conscious, moaned in pain and pressed her hand against her forehead. She was so exhausted from the fire that she barely had energy left. Everything hurt.

An ambulance was called and Ashlyn was rushed to hospital while Ashley was transported to the morgue. The Burns Unit had never seen a patient with such bad injuries. Nevertheless, they worked tirelessly on her, going around the clock, trying their best to save her life, even though their expectations of her survival was slim. She was in and out of consciousness. It still struck doctors in surprise that she somehow survived such horrific burns that no one had ever endured before.

Dr. Morgan, who was the head surgeon, called Ashlyn's parents and told them to come to the burns unit because their daughter was injured. They panicked and scurried over to the said unit, their minds running amok as they imagined what their daughter's conditions is like.

" _Maybe it isn't as bad as I think. Probably a minor burn. Oh please, let it be minor,"_ Her mother, Eilidh, thought as she frantically drove to where Ashlyn was located.

As she ran inside, she saw her husband, Jian, sitting by the front office with the petrified look on his face. He looked up and before he have a chance to say anything, Dr. Morgan went up to them.

"Are you the parents of Ashlyn Halperin?"

They quickly confirmed, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

"Your daughter…" He began, unsure of how to word it carefully. "She suffered third degree burns at every inch of her body."

"W-What…?" Her mom was perplexed. "How did it… how did it happen?"

"We found out that she was using the tanning bed and they malfunctioned and caught fire."

As they were left to piece together the situation Ashlyn was in, they were lead to Ashlyn's room in Intensive Care.

"You're gonna want to prepare yourself," he said as they reached her room.

As they walked in, they saw her charred body with the gauze over her eyes, covering up the goggles that's still stuck to her eyeballs. Ashlyn would be there for quite awhile, as she will have a very long, difficult journey to go before she got anywhere near better.

They also told her she suffered with third degree burns over 95% of her body. They were devastated and heartbroken; their daughter would never be the same again.

Eilidh got closer to Ashlyn, barely touching her charred, swelling head.

"Ashlyn… it's your mom. I know you can hear me. It's gonna be okay," Eilidh choked up, barely holding back tears as she takes in her daughter's conditions.

Ashlyn gurgled a little before saying, "M-Mom…"

"It'll be okay, we'll be by your side all the way through."

"Where's… Ash…ley?" Ashlyn moaned hoarsely, trying her best to talk. Her parents exchanged glances. Ashley was like their second daughter, she would come hang out at their house almost every single day. They don't know what happened to her.

"Where is she?" Her mom asked Dr. Morgan. He didn't answer them as he was afraid to break the news.

"Was she with you at the tanning place?" Jian asked. It took awhile for Ashlyn to remember.

"Yes," She dryly confirmed.

Her parents looked at each other again before Jian went to Dr. Morgan and ask about what happened to Ashley. Dr. Morgan slowly walked to Ashlyn and broke the news as gently as he could.

"Ashlyn… she didn't make it." Dr. Morgan stated hesitantly. Ashlyn moaned in sadness. She'll miss her dearly. But at the same time, she was relieved. She won't have to go through any more pain than she already went through.

"She won't… suffer… at least…" She said gravelly.

Her parents nodded before the doctor told them that they had to finish their job before transferring her to her room.

Her parents left hesitantly. The doctor knocked her out with morphine and used their time wisely to concentrate on not harming her anymore. They carved off the black, charred skin with a long razor blade before working on her eyes. They removed the gauze and spent a long time carefully removed the fused plastic.

After the goggles were finally removed, her eyes were shut tightly. They applied eye drops before opening them to find that they have irreparable damages and had to remove them, sewing the lids shut and wrapping a bandage around her eyes.

All of her fingers had to be amputated because of the dead bones and applied a hard water spray to clean off the dead tissues on her body. During the process, her nose, lips, and ears fell off, as well as her fingers and toes being cut off because they have been thinning. The doctors and nurses had to bandage Ashlyn from head to toe. She looked like an Egyptian mummy by the end of the whole process. As she was transferred rooms, her parents were informed about what had happened during the surgery, and were prepared for when they got to see her again. Even though they were told about all the bandages, they couldn't hold back the gasp of shock when they saw her.

Sometime later, they had to give Ashlyn a bath, as it had been three days since the fire and so they peeled off the bandages. They told Ashlyn the procedure, as burn victims take warm baths with weak Clorox and listened to loud music to distract them from excruciating pain.

They wheeled her to the room, with a big stainless steel tub that was already filled with water. They gave Ashlyn a fresh dose of morphine before sitting her down on the slinger and moved her into warm water. The nurse set up the loud, distracting music to keep her mind off the pain while another nurse gently clean her wound with soap. Even though she had been given morphine it still hurt.

Ashlyn moaned in pain and is not enjoying a second of this torture chamber, as burn victims likes it call it.

"Make it stop!" Ashlyn cried.

"It's okay. We'll get everything done for you."

After what seemed like forever, the "torture chamber" session was over for the day. Her nurse Gina gently wiped her off and lead her back to her room.

Over the course of the next few months, Ashlyn had battled infections and high fevers. At one point, she threw up on the floor in the hallway while she left the bathing room. She also had dreams about her old body. Sometimes, she dreamt that she is looking in the mirror at her old reflection. Other times, was looking down nervously at her healthy body, afraid that the sun might burn her.

Her parents felt that she would feel better if her friends could see her. But they are too upset that she can no longer see. But they reassured themselves that at least she can hear, despite her ears being torn off, leaving a tiny hole each side.

Ashlyn was a little stoned from all the morphine. She constantly asked how she looks. Her parents dreaded traumatizing her any further. First, she was severely burned, she lost her best friend, and now she look completely unrecognizable and is totally dependent. They put off telling her the truth and asks visitors to deflect her questions.

Her parents couldn't really come up with an explanation. All they could say was, "You look better than the last time."

Ashlyn accepted the answer. But they kept having to tell her that every single day because she was on morphine and forgets the answer. Same goes for her question for her fingers and toes.

—

When Ashlyn became more sober, her parents invited her friends to see her.

When her friends had found out what had happened, they were astonished at first by what happened and unsure how she had survived.

"Poor Ashlyn..." Julie whispered while holding Wendy's hand for support. Wendy slowly nodded and was trying her best not to cry despite the tears that were slowly making their way down her cheeks. It was the first time she had seen Ashlyn since school that day when she and Ashley had both invited her to go with them to the salon after the candlelight vigil for Jason, Carrie and the others that were tragically killed from the roller coaster.

"I feel like I should've done more to save both her and Ashley," she whispered solemnly. "I should've seen this coming."

"You can't blame yourself," Kevin replied softly. "We just simply miscalculated the clues in the photos a bit."

"Death could still be watching us," Wendy replied, her voice trembling slightly as she started to feel her knees buckle out from underneath her.

"We have to do something," said Kevin after a moment of silence observing Ashlyn's body and wincing as he saw her eyes.

"How?" asked Lewis, also observing Ashlyn's burned, scarred body.

Wendy's eyes scanned all over Ashlyn's body as an icy cold chill suddenly ran through her chilling her to the bone. Her teeth began to rattle inside her mouth, the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end and she could feel her body beginning to tremor and shake. Something was wrong.

"Wen? You okay?" Her sister Julie turned to look at her as Wendy started backing away now unable to speak as the words became lost inside of her. Her head started to spin now as black spots filled her vision.

"Wendy? Hey, you alright?" She could hear Kevin's voice of concern hitting her as everyone's eyes turned toward her.

"Is it happening again? Are you seeing something?" Kevin whispered softly while placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

"I think so…" She answered hesitantly. "Who was behind Ashley and Ashlyn on the ride?"

"That would be me," Frankie replied miserably.

"That's right," Kevin said pointing it out. "You had your camera and Frankie had his video camera 'cause he was trying to record Ashley and Ashlyn."

Frankie stared down hard at the floor in a sad daze as he began to remember those tragic events that had taken place. "If I hadn't have been such a pathetic ass, then everyone we knew would still be alive, and Ashlyn wouldn't be lying here suffering in so much agony." Tears began to fall down his face to the floor as he kept his head down to avoid being detected. Everyone did their best to conceal their anger. If they weren't in the hospital right now, his ass is grass.

"Frankie…"

They heard Ashlyn trying to say his name. Frankie's face lifted up. "Come here…"


	2. Chapter 2

Frankie reluctantly obeyed, his chest pounding for what he's about to hear. "It's not... your fault..." Her voice was that of a soft whisper, but was full of genuine sincere, almost forgiving.

"I don't... blame you..." She managed to get out weakly as Frankie's eyes now lit up toward the ceiling, his heart more uplifted then it was mere moments ago.

He had blamed himself for so long when he had heard about the tragic news about Ashley's death that he was silently starting to hold himself responsible.

"Oh… Th-thank you, Ashlyn…" Frankie stuttered, smiling. He was so afraid at what happened will make everyone hate him. A forgiveness from at least one person is very comforting. Especially from Ashlyn, who've suffered the most.

"No problem…" She tried with all her effort to stroke his arm in comfort, slightly doing so to avoid the pain in her hand. He slightly took a hold of her hand to avoid hurting her as well.

"Um… I'll be right back," Frankie gently putting her fingerless hand to her side and ran to the bathroom.

Frankie stared at himself in the mirror. He started reflecting at what kind of a person he is. Although Ashlyn forgave him, he still can't believe for what he did. If he wasn't some kind of pervert, she wouldn't be here suffering.

Blind.

Burned.

Some of her body parts missing.

Unable to move.

No fingers.

If he was someone else, he wouldn't had snuck his camera into the rollercoaster ride and recording Ashley and Ashlyn.

At the thought from that night, he suddenly yanked off the tacky mudflap girl chain he won as a prize from a game at the carnival two weeks before she got burned and threw it at the floor. He yelled and tried stomping on it, ignoring the tingly pain in his neck. He huffed hugely and ran his hands through his head.

After splashing his face numerous times, he then leaned his hands on the sides of the sink, and took in a few deep breaths to keep himself in check, but he couldn't stop his lower lip from trembling and the sudden flow of tears that were starting to glisten in his eyes. A lump formed in his throat as he tried to breathe, but his throat suddenly felt constricted as the tears in his eyes now started to run down his cheeks.

Several minutes later, a thought came to mind. He decided to make up for all his mistakes. He simply wanted to return the favor. He decided to be there and support her.

Frankie came back to her room, having to remind himself repeatedly that she forgave him. He felt a little more confident as he got closer to her.

"Hey," Frankie greeted and lightly stroked her arm.

"Hi," Ashlyn replied hoarsely with a smile which melted Frankie's heart. The fire had made her appreciate life and those around her more, even when she's blind.

"Everything okay?" She asked hoarsely as she cleared her throat with a sharp gasp of pain. Frankie nodded softly and gently stroked her cheek. "I'm okay." He admitted trying to hold back his emotions. Ashlyn smiled softly as though she could somehow sense his emotions and with a scarred arm reached up to stroke his face.

Over the course of the next several months, Frankie had been visiting Ashlyn and is very devoted to tend for her in every way. He felt good taking care of her, trying to mold into a new person. Her family noticed the goodness within him and was always looking forward for his visit. Sometimes, he would even spend the night with her in her room. On the other hand, they got to know each other. Frankie found that Ashlyn spent a couple years in Hong Kong as a child and is fluent in Cantonese and Ashlyn found that Frankie is actually a pretty funny guy in general. Her favorite joke of his was that he can't wear a jersey when he's bald because he looks like a sick kid with one last wish.

Along the way, Ashlyn helped Frankie to be a better person. Frankie took to note to erase every videos of girls on his camera. He almost wanted to watch the footage he recorded of Ashley and Ashlyn at the carnival, but he cringed, because the footage of the girls were under inappropriate context. But he was hesitant to delete it, because it shows Ashlyn as a regular person, not covered in scars. It took him a while before deciding to delete the footage, but not before he watched it for a second and quickly closed the camera. He doesn't want to be that person anymore, the creepy guy who captures girls his type on his camcorder.

After that was over it, he sold the camera and became the new Frankie Cheeks.

—

On one such night in particular, as Frankie took a seat in one of the chairs beside her bed, he was suddenly surprised and almost jumped when he felt her touch upon his hand and looked down.

"What's the matter?" Ashlyn asked as she pressed a button on the remote connecting to the bed to allow her to sit up. She had managed to remember the buttons as she was gaining her independence.

"Nothing," Frankie replied despite the fact his heart was racing a million miles an hour inside his chest.

 _"This was it,"_ He thought to himself. _"I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend, and that's that."_

"Ashlyn," he began, gently holding her stump hand.

"Yeah?" She replied. Frankie took a deep breath before saying, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Ashlyn smiled. Throughout the whole thing, Frankie had grew attached to Ashlyn. After all, Frankie had been there for her every second of the day. He mostly spent the night five days of the week. He even participated to giving her everything she need to treat her injuries. Little by little, she had improved everyday and Frankie was happy to see that but she's still not ready yet to get discharged.

"Yes," she said. Frankie's heart melted and smiled widely. He kissed the top of her head, though she is wearing a knitted cap the hospital gave her.

"I love you," said Frankie.

Ashlyn smiled back. "I love you, too."

—

The next day after Frankie and Ashlyn began dating, their friend visited them again.

Wendy, Kevin and Julie came to see them. They saw Frankie there as usual, holding Ashlyn's hand. They were pretty surprised that Frankie had completely changed his behavior from recording girls with his video camera to constantly visiting Ashlyn who had despised him of his harassment toward her and Ashley, but they eventually got used to it.

Ashlyn heard their footsteps but don't know who it was until she heard their voices.

"Hey, Frankie," they greeted.

"Hey guys," he and Ashlyn greeted back.

"What's new?" Kevin asked.

"I asked Ashlyn to be my girlfriend and she said yes," Frankie beamed.

Julie beamed a smile, and hugged Ashlyn. "I'm so happy for you guys. That's great news to hear."

As everyone cheered about the news of Frankie and Ashlyn's relationship, the door of the hospital room opened where Dr. Morgan walked in holding a clipboard with a big smile plastered on his face.

"Hi Ashlyn, how are you?" He greeted cheerfully.

"I'm really well. Because Frankie here asked me to be his girlfriend," Ashlyn said, smiling as she held Frankie's hand.

"That's terrific news," Dr. Morgan replied. "Speaking of which, I have some even more great news to announce. I have scheduled your surgery to get you an eye transplant. Soon you will no longer be blind. Isn't that wonderful?"

A smile formed upon Ashlyn's face, this was starting to become the best day of her life.

She had narrowly escaped a fiery death, and was given a second chance that come with a promising boyfriend, and now she is finally going to be able to face the world with a new set of eyes.

Things were starting to look up for her, but even now as her thoughts turned back to Ashley an overwhelming sense of dread began to fill up within her. How could she be able to face the world with a smile on her face everyday without her best friend beside her?

—

A week later, after listed on the waiting list, she had finally got a new pair. As soon as she woke up to see Frankie sitting by her, patiently waiting for her to wake up, she threw her arm around him and telling him how much she loves him before doing the same with her parents.

"I can't believe how brave you are being through all this." Frankie said lovingly as he kissed her on the hand. Ashlyn smiled at the comment, until a crippling aching pain shot through her head causing her to double over on the hospital bed clutching her head.

"You okay?" Frankie asked in a concerned voice, but Ashlyn couldn't hear him as a ghostly voice only she could hear began calling out to her.

"Ashlyn...Ashlyn..." Opening her new eyes weakly she looked up for a split second and let out a scream of terror as she saw Ashley, her best friend standing right in front of her charred to the bone from the incident of the fire.

"Why did you have to be the one to live?" Ashley's voice was ghostly and menacing. It was so tragic and horrifying. This has to be some kind of illusion. Ashlyn thought shaking her head to get rid of the ghostly image, but in truth Ashley's spirit wouldn't leave her sight.

Kevin's face paled, and Julie let out a tiny squeak of fright as she turned to look at her big sister.

"How can this be possible?" She asked her eyes widening in terror as Wendy shook her head.

"I don't know," she replied in a soft voice. "It doesn't make any sense."

"What did Ashley say to you?" Frankie asked.

Ashlyn opened her mouth to respond, but a horrible wave of nausea swept over her, followed by a wave of dizziness that threatened to engulf her as she passed out still clutching onto Frankie's arm.


End file.
